Last night we were introduced to Buck Jones, another cowboy star from the Silent era who made a successful transition to sound. In "The Gunman from Bodie"(1941), he's teamed with Tim McCoy and character actor Raymond Hatton, who were billed collectively as "The Rough Riders" in a series of successful Westerns for Monogram Studios. "Bodie" was the second of those films, and as it opens, Jones - playing gunman "Bob 'Brodie' Bronson" - rides up to a ranch house on a stormy night. We don't know what he's doing there, but inside there's been a massacre. A man and his wife are dead. The only one left is a baby boy, whom Bronson wraps in a blanket and takes with him as he rides away. The next morning he arrives in town and knocks on the first door he sees, which happens to be the Circle B Ranch house of "Alice Borden" (Christine McItyre). She's home, along with "Joe Martin" (Dave O'Brien, who we just saw with Buster Crabbe in "Billy the Kid: Wanted"), late of the Martin Ranch. Both have something in common with the infant Bronson is carrying. Each of them have had their parents murdered by vicious cattle rustlers that are working in the area. Martin has lost his ranch for non-payment. He's fortunate to be hired by Alice of Circle B, who likes Joe and has made him her foreman. They agree to take the baby from Bob Bronson, who also gives them a note he found at the house, written by the baby's mother, that identifies the killer of her and her husband.
Bronson then leaves, saying he's looking for work. The next day, "Marshal Tim McCall" (Tim McCoy) knocks on Alice's door. He says he looking for a man named Bob "Bodie" Bronson, a wanted outlaw. He shows Alice and Joe a poster of Bronson, and of course they've already met him, but they had no idea he was a killer. But, after the Marshal leaves, Alice wonders: how could he be that bad if he rescued a baby? Maybe the Marshal's got the wrong man. Joe doesn't know, but the next time Bronson comes to the house, he tells him never to return. While Joe is grateful for the baby, he's taking no chances.
Bronson leaves, and rides over to see "Mr. Wyatt" (Robert Frazer), a lawyer who runs the land office. We know right away that Wyatt's a crook - for one thing, he runs the land office. For another, he's advised Alice to sell her ranch to a conniving cattleman at a bargain price. "He's eventually gonna buy you out anyway", Wyatt tells her. We can see he's in cahoots with someone, but who is it? Bronson the outlaw goes to see him and asks for a job. Wyatt likes the fact that he's a wanted killer; that means he can make Bronson do his bidding because he's got him over a barrel.
He gives Bronson the job of head rustler in his gang, which angers "Steve Dunn" (Charles King), the guy who had that job until now. To retaliate, Dunn goes over to the Borden Ranch and shoots Joe Martin, then tries to frame Bronson for it. Wyatt is pitting both men against one another, he's a true evil mastermind in this many-layered plot. The only guy he can't fool is Marshal McCall. McCall discovers the whereabouts of "Bill Cook" (Joe Merton), the killer of the baby's parents. He corners Cook in a bar and tells him he's gonna hang, then he goes on to describe what it's like to be hanged in grisly detail. "I've seen many men at the end of a rope, so I know. The only chance you've got at staying alive and in jail for the rest of your life, is if you tell me who's ordering these murders". Cook won't talk, and winds up in jail awaiting the noose, but the Sheriff - who's working for Wyatt (an honest Sheriff in a 60 minute western is a rare thing) - lets him go, and Cook rides back to tell Wyatt he thinks Marshal McCall might be on to him.
We haven't seen Buck Jones before, but he was a big star and he's great in this movie. There's also a surprise twist involving his character. Unfortunately, Jones died just a year after this film was released, in the horrific Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Massachusetts in November 1942. When I was a kid, this fire was still being mentioned in the newspaper every now and then. Now it has faded into time, but it killed 492 people and remains the second deadliest building fire in American history. Buck Jones reportedly escaped the fire initially, but true to his heroic nature he went back inside to rescue others, and was trapped. His persona is in the Harry Carey mold of an older, stoic cowboy. We'll look for more from him and The Rough Riders. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Gunman from Bodie". The picture is razor sharp. ////
As for our previous night's picture, how about a 25 year-old John Wayne, in a bit part supporting Tim McCoy, with Walter Brennan as a co-star? You know you're a big deal when you're introducing The Duke, and while I don't know if this is a coincidence or how Wayne actually got his nickname, his character is named "Duke" in this movie: "Two-Fisted Law"(1932). McCoy plays "Tim Clark" a rancher who is foreclosed by unscrupulous land owner "Bob Russell" (Wheeler Oakman), who loans him money at an exorbitant interest rate, then won't give him a chance to repay.
Even the Sheriff thinks Russell is a snake. The Sheriff actually has a spine in this movie, and isn't crooked (a double whammy of surprise). Tim Clark leaves his ranch, after saying goodbye to his trusted cowhands. All he has left in the world is his steed and a young pinto, which he has to board with neighboring rancher "Betty Owen" (Alice Day) of the Bridle-Bit Ranch. She takes the pinto and trains him, and when Clark returns two years later, the skinny pony is now a beautiful stallion named Pal. As for Clark, while he was gone his whereabouts were a mystery. He returned just in the nick of time to prevent Bob Russell from marrying Betty Owen, with the threat of foreclosure on the Bridle-Bit if she refuses. It seems Russell has the deeds to everyone's ranches, but Clark stops him in his tracks at Betty's house.
"Hands up Russell! Leave the lady alone."
By foreclosing on Clark at the beginning of the movie, Russell thought he'd run him off for good, but now Clark is back, and he pays off Betty's loan at the last minute before Russell can foreclose on her. The Sheriff, who despises Russell, nevertheless wonders where Clark got 10 grand to pay Betty's loan. Russell's henchman (Richard Alexander) swears he saw Clark robbing the Wells Fargo depot in Gold City. Three men were seen entering the depot, but the Sheriff's deputy "Bendix" (Walter Brennan) says he can't be sure if one of them was Clark. Russell has a blackmail secret on Bendix, however, and forces him to arrest Clark for the robbery. "I can't do that, I'm not the sheriff"!, Bendix protests. But it doesn't matter. He's in Russell's grip now and has to do his bidding or get arrested himself.
We find out what his secret is, that he's been in cahoots with Russell and his henchman since the beginning, in a land scheme to get most of the mortgage from buyers, then rustle their cattle so they go broke and can't pay the balance. Then Russell forecloses and reclaims the properties after loan sharking the buyers into bankruptcy. Tim Clark finally captures Bendix and Russell in a shootoout, and as the hero he of course marries Betty Owen at the end of the movie, with a double-entendre about the Bridle-Bit becoming the Bridal-Bit (wink, nudge). It must now be noted that after seeing Tim McCoy in two badass roles two nights in a row, he is promoted to the Top Rank of Western Stars, up there with Johnny Mack Brown and Tom Tyler. We've gotta see if we can find any of his early Silents. As for "Two-Fisted Law", it's great stuff, Two Big Thumbs Up, with a restored picture and great photography at the usual Chatsworth locations. Tully Marshall as "Sheriff Malcolm" may be our second oldest actor, born April 13, 1864 (our earliest was 1859).
That's all I know for tonight. I hope you aren't getting tired of Westerns. Me? I'm hooked and can't stop watching 'em. I may need a 12-step program, haha, but I am on the lookout for Noirs we haven't seen, and sci-fi and horror and all the other stuff we love, which to remind you is basically anything that doesn't have Schwarzanegger, Van Damme, Adam Sandler or Danny DeVito. Those standards are twenty years old by now, we'll have to update 'em to include Will Smith and Will Farrell, and John C. Reilly too. Can you think of any others? How about the SNL guy who played "Deuce Bigalo, Male Gigolo"? (can't think of his name, what was it?) Well anyhow, let me know if you have any particulars and we'll exclude 'em.
I hope you have a great weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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